DONUT SHOP RESURRECTION HALTED – CALIFORNIA DO-NUTS CO.

California Do-Nuts Co. Owner Says She Can’t Reopen

ST, LOUIS, MO: (STLRestaurant.News) California Do-Nuts Co. – A long empty hole in the south St. Louis donut scene will remain unfilled. The anticipated reopening of the California Do-Nut Company at 2924 South Jefferson Avenue has been cancelled. Aspiring restaurateur Felinna Love had bought the long-shuttered Benton Park neighborhood donut shop in 2015 with plans to renovate the building and reopen it this year. But Love has announced on the company’s Facebook page that “unforeseen circumstances” are forcing her to abandon her plans to reopen the shop.

According to Love, some of the issues are related to the renovations of the building that has housed the shop since it first opened in 1948. Other issues, like the death of her father, have taken Love away from the St. Louis area. She said it was “heart-aching to admit” that she wouldn’t be reopening the store.

Love had tried to raise cash for renovations and equipment using crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, but refunded the donations after raising less than $5,000 of her $45,000 and $15,000 targets.

It’s unclear what will happen to the boarded up brick storefront now. Years of neglect have left it in need of major repairs. Love is already auctioning off the commercial kitchen gear she’d purchased for the store, even putting a link to the auction site on Facebook.

Despite the disappointment, Love says she’s grateful for all the support she’s received from the neighborhood and the city, and she’s “confident that many sweet things lie ahead for Benton Park, the South-side, and St. Louis as a whole.”

Susan Smith-Harmon

Susan Smith-Harmon is an experienced writer, editor, and broadcast journalist with a strong news background. She’s worked in radio and television news, and for national and international newswire services.

She began her career in public radio while still a student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (where she earned a B.A. in Communications). She soon made the jump to news/talk radio, handling assignments from field reporting, airborne traffic, and news anchor, to producing and hosting daily talk shows. She’s also worked in television, most recently as the inaugural producer for The Allman Report on KDNL-TV 30, and as a news writer and reporter for national and international newswire services.